Voters in outlying areas of Bexar County turned out in strong numbers and overwhelmingly supported Republican presidential winner Donald Trump, especially on the far, suburban North Side.

But Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost the national election and Texas, still won the popular vote locally and seized more than twice as many voting precincts as Trump in other parts of Bexar County, according to an analysis of election data by the San Antonio Express-News.

Express Newsletters

Get the latest news, sports and food features sent directly to your inbox.

Clinton also grabbed a higher percentage of voters in Bexar County than President Barack Obama did in 2012, and she earned about 54,000 more actual votes.

The analysis shows a county divided by geography and ideology. Some of the strongest turnout occurred in large precincts that ring Bexar County and lean conservative. Nestled in that sea of Trump supporters is an island of inner-city precincts that might be smaller in size, but collectively supported Clinton and other Democrats in high numbers.

Clinton won most precincts inside Loop 410, including all of downtown, but lost many smaller, suburban cities inside the loop like Olmos Park, Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills. She also won large areas on the far South Side and on the Northeast Side.

Trump’s largest batch of support was north of Loop 1604 and up the U.S. 281 and Interstate 10 corridors. He also had sizable success on the far West Side, on the Medina County line, and in smaller, rural communities in southeast and southwest Bexar County.

Some of the county’s highest voter turnout was in precincts in these far North and far West areas.

This pattern has emerged in past elections. Republican challenger Mitt Romney secured a similar suburban ring of support in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Obama four years ago.

“It doesn’t help that we’re the most economically segregated community in the United States,” said Manuel Medina, chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party, referring to past studies examining the economic divide in San Antonio.

Many of the precincts that favored Clinton were in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods such as Precinct 2045 near Woodlawn Lake, where 65 percent of the voters cast ballots. Most voters in that precinct preferred Clinton over Trump, 952 votes to 258.

How the presidential election played out in Bexar County

Hillary Clinton definitively outperformed Donald Trump in Bexar County, winning twice as many precincts and 53.7 percent of the vote compared to Trump’s 40.4 percent.
Trump’s largest batch of support came on the far North and Northwest Side, winning many precincts north of Loop 1604, up the U.S. 281 and Interstate 10 corridors.
Clinton won most precincts inside Loop 410, including all of downtown, and large areas on the far South Side and on the Northeast Side, in the outer reaches of the county.
Trump did make some inroads on the south, winning precincts in St. Hedwig, Adkins, Elmendorf and China Grove in the southeast and near Lytle on the Atascosa-Bexar county line on the southwest side. He also won precincts in several suburban cities, including Olmos Park, Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Shavano Park, Hollywood Park and Windcrest – but Clinton won the cities of Balcones Heights and Leon Valley.

Key: Trump wins - red; Clinton wins - blue; Tie - purple

Source: Bexar County Elections Department

Areas where Trump performed best, on the whole, have lower percentages of Hispanic voters compared to precincts Clinton won, according to some of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

St. Mary’s University political science professor Henry Flores wasn’t surprised to see election results that closely mirror those from 2012.

“Bexar County, dominated by the city itself … particularly within the boundaries of (Loop) 410 is a very Democratic city,” Flores said.

He also noted political operatives in Bexar County tend to stay in areas where they already know they have support.

“It comes from the thinking, you want to stay away from your opponent’s turf, so to speak, (because) what you might end up doing is antagonizing your opponent’s constituency and that will increase their turnout,” Flores said.

Overall, Clinton won 474 voting precincts in Bexar County while Trump won 198. Out of 598,081 ballots cast in Bexar County, Clinton won 53.7 percent of the vote to Trump’s 40.3 percent.

Nationally, exit polls showed voters under age 45 voted for Clinton at higher rates than Trump, said John Hermann, associate professor of political science at Trinity University.

If the Bexar County vote was hardly surprising, the same could not be said for the outcome across the country: Trump secured more women voters than expected, he grabbed almost 30 percent of the Latino vote and, like Ronald Reagan, he attracted blue-collar Democrats in states like Michigan and Wisconsin, Hermann said.

“You have angry Americans that are white, have less education, they believe they are disenfranchised, disaffected, whatever word you want to use, and they voted” for Trump, Hermann said. “He definitely struck a chord with them.”